Kabaan

Kabaan is the debut Assamese novel of Dr. Sarat Kumar Doley, Associate Professor of English at Tezpur University, published in 2026. Rooted in the folklore and myths of Northeast India, the novel explores how oral traditions and stories passed down through generations across various communities and tribes find their expression in written literary forms. Dr. Doley’s debut novel is deeply reflective of stories circulating among the masses that may carry real-life connotations. Kabaan grapples with questions of identity, desire, and livelihood, weaving together lived experience and the mythic undercurrents of orally transmitted stories.

The publication of Kabaan marks Dr. Doley’s first step into the realm of the Assamese novel, weaving folklore into harmony and blending them into a cohesive whole. Set in the town of Laitumkhrah in Shillong, Meghalaya, the novel opens with a brief description of Janki, a research scholar at a university in Shillong. The narrative moves forward through a first-person perspective as Janki recounts his life. Belonging to the Mising community of Assam, his life is deeply rooted in the village, and throughout his journey to Shillong, he reflects upon his wife and daughter, offering us a lens into their family life. However, as Janki reaches Shillong, his life takes a different turn.

In Shillong, Janki encounters a mysterious girl named Marina Kharbaman, who offers a brief account of her life to him. They share conversations about the folklore and culture of Meghalaya, a subject of mutual interest, and as their intimacy grows, Marina one day shares with Janki the story of a girl named Kanan, a story about the oppression of women embedded even within folklore. She further reveals that there are many such stories scattered across every corner of Meghalaya, all waiting to be documented. However, as the narrative unfolds, certain revelations lead Janki – and the reader – to the very core of the novel, rooted in the myths and oral traditions of Northeast India, raising questions that begin to consume Janki’s life entirely. 

As Janki enquires about Marina and eventually traces his way to her home, he is confronted with a reality which begins to blur the boundary between the actual and the imagined. The protagonist finds himself drawn into surreal, supernatural events that unsettle his sense of what is real and what isn’t. Gradually, various narratives unfold around the mysterious figure of Marina, each offering a different perspective and a different story. Yet the common thread running through all of them is the domination of and violence inflicted upon women. Across these narratives, Marina appears under different names, but certain elements remain constant, reflecting the shared elements of women’s oppression and domestic violence.

Throughout the novel, Dr. Doley attempts to bring forth a continuous debate between psychology and folklore, medical science and traditional beliefs. In the process of unravelling the mysteries of Marina’s existence, Janki is drawn into deep personal and psychological conflicts, gradually giving way to disillusionment. The writer weaves fragmented stories from folklore into Marina’s narrative, as the line between myth and reality, between belief and mental health, becomes increasingly difficult to discern. In this way, Kabaan engages thoughtfully with questions of the mind, inviting the reader to reflect on where folklore ends and psychological experience begins.

Ultimately, with Kabaan, Dr. Sarat Kumar Doley has crafted a significant contribution to Assamese literature, giving fictional form to the folklore, mythology, and diverse oral traditions of Northeast India, and in doing so, ensuring that these voices are not lost to time.